


Unexpected

by SnapTheVolleyNerd



Category: Danny Phantom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:14:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 14,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21812770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnapTheVolleyNerd/pseuds/SnapTheVolleyNerd
Summary: Based on this[https://danphanwritingprompts.tumblr.com/post/186028108775/vlad-is-a-creep-but-who-can-maddie-vent-to-about] writing prompt.In which Maddie Fenton uncovers information about Vlad Masters that proves he's so much worse than she had originally thought...
Comments: 57
Kudos: 190





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> before you read this, know that I wrote it after being awake for almost 20 hours
> 
> and I know it's not the best I could do for the Phandom ;-;
> 
> plz enjoy this first chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day had been…trying, to say the least, for Maddie Fenton. Her husband, bless his heart, had given Vlad Masters her cell phone number, because they were all ‘college buddies’. He simply couldn’t leave her alone for more than two minutes, apparently. Not only had Vlad’s constant texting/calling been getting on her nerves all day, it had interrupted a very dangerous experiment, that very nearly exploded.

The day had been…trying, to say the least, for Maddie Fenton. Her husband, bless his heart, had given Vlad Masters her cell phone number, because they were all ‘college buddies’. He simply couldn’t leave her alone for more than two minutes, apparently. Not only had Vlad’s constant texting/calling been getting on her nerves all day, it had interrupted a very dangerous experiment, that very nearly exploded.

She and Jack had been out getting groceries, when there was a sighting of Danny Phantom outside the store. She was all too ready for a good fight, as she readied her ghost blaster, and shot out the door. But Phantom kept just _barely_ dodging her shots, and she was getting more and more frustrated with herself, and the world in general.

“ _As if Vlad Masters wasn’t enough, now I can’t even hit this ghost!_ ”

“Ooh, are we talking shit about Vlad Masters?”

Maddie was aghast at the ghost’s response. That was honestly what she really wanted to do, but she had nobody to talk to about him.

“Now hold on just _one second_! What- how would you even know him?”

She kept her blaster steady, just in case he tried something funny with her, she watched his every move, although he seemed rather relaxed, just floating there.

“Uh-well, i-it’s kind of a long story. How do _you_ know him?”

Maddie felt as if there was something the boy was purposely leaving unsaid, however, she was debating answering the ghost boy, despite her instincts screaming at her to not lower her guard even a tiny amount. But before she could, he asked her another question:

“You really hate him, don’t you?”

She finally broke her resolve, as her frustrations with the day began to surface.

“You have no _idea_. He’s an insufferable little bastard, what-what’s _wrong_ with him?!”

She asked, not expecting any answer from Phantom. But he responded anyway.

“Oh man, so many things. Like-he named his cat after you.”

The original anger flipped to surprise, Vlad had never been an animal person.

“He has…a _cat_?”

“Yep. And oh man, don’t even get me _started_ on the **_hologram_** of you he wrote.”

She was angrier than ever now.

“He made a **what** of me!?”

“A fricking hologram. I’ve seen it, and believe me, it’s even worse than it sounds. It even has your voice.”

There were no words to describe the anger that Maddie felt, as Phantom disclosed this information to her.

“But you didn’t hear that from me.”

She wondered why Phantom seemed to actually be afraid of Vlad Masters, but her curiosity was overwhelmed by her anger easily.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That night, Maddie couldn’t sleep. Something about Phantom seemed all too familiar, yet foreign at the same time. She wondered how he had died-why so young? He seemed to not be much older than her own Danny, and something about that unsettled her. With her mind running wild, she knew there wasn’t much of a point in staying in bed-at least for now.

As she made her way down to the lab, she grabbed a few snacks, knowing she was going to have a very late night. She was beyond grateful to have a portion of the lab sealed off, just for her, at Jack’s suggestion. She began brewing her personal pot of coffee, and booted her computer up.

She sighed, as she pulled her own file on Phantom out of her desk drawer. There, she had stored countless newspaper clippings from the beginning of the Phantom sightings. She sipped her coffee, as she flipped to the very beginning of her file. The date of the first sighting caught her attention, although she didn’t quite know why yet.

Confused, she searched on her computer for children’s deaths surrounding that date. None of these children looked quite like they could have been Phantom before he died. She bit her lip, as something else came to her mind.

She felt sick to her stomach as she searched for the same thing-only in Wisconsin. Instead of finding reports of deaths, the most popular article was about a young girl that had gone missing, only a few months after Vlad had invited their family to his mansion. She felt uneasy, as she looked at the blurry picture of the girl. She looked much like her own son, and similar to how she thought Phantom might have looked when he was alive. As she looked over the contact information for the girl’s father, she recognized the phone number. Her nausea turned to heartbreak, as she shakily took out her phone to compare the numbers. Vlad Masters. There was no doubt about it. In the ‘related articles’ section, she saw a very poor quality photo of Vlad and the girl being “reunited”, it seemed.

The next article was about a “Ghost girl saves teen boys from being crushed”. She looked at the picture of the ghost girl, her heart aching more and more, as she began putting the story together.

Someone had some explaining to do, and by God, she was going to get answers.


	2. Questions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maddie decided to do more digging on what she now called the Phantom siblings. Like why was Danny Phantom haunting Amity Park? Where was the ghost girl? Were they truly siblings like she theorized? And if so, that would make Vlad their father, but how had they died? What had he done to those children?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> first of all WHERE DID YOU ALL COME FROM??? THE FLOORBOARDS??? I POST THE FIRST CHAPTER, WALK AWAY FOR TEN MINUTES AND THERE'S SUDDENLY HIGH STATS???? 
> 
> *ahem* 
> 
> anyways, I'm glad so many people are already enjoying this lol if you're familiar with any of my other works, you'll know that I live for angst so brace yourselves y'all 
> 
> :):):):):)

Maddie decided to do more digging on what she now called the Phantom siblings. Like why was Danny Phantom haunting Amity Park? Where was the ghost girl? Were they truly siblings like she theorized? And if so, that would make Vlad their father, but how had they died? **What had he done to those children**?

The next time she met Phantom, she refused to fight with him, instead asking him if he knew the ghost girl.

“Uh…w-well, yeah. I-I guess you could say she’s uh…family? But, she doesn’t really hang around here often…I mean, yeah, she visits all the time, but…”

Maddie made a mental note of everything he was telling her.

“Tell me, ghost boy, do you know who her father was?”

He looked as if she had struck a nerve with that question. But still, she pushed. She had to know.

“Please, I have to know. Is it Masters?”

His silent nod was all she needed. Cautiously, she placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. She hadn’t expected to see such a pained expression when he looked at her.

Maddie wanted to make Vlad pay for whatever he did, but she thought of something else that she had noticed when the family had visited his mansion. Her boy didn’t like Vlad, not even a little bit. Jazz didn’t mind him much at all, but Danny seemed to actually be-no, he wouldn’t have gone that far…would he? She remembered the words of Phantom, how Masters had made an entire a hologram program of her. He was obsessed.

_What did he do to her baby?_

She shook her head, hoping to erase the images her mind had conjured. She swallowed her nervousness as she carefully combed every tiny bit of information she had on Vlad Masters.

“I wouldn’t be doing that, if I were you.”

Phantom? In her lab?

“Wh-how did you get in here?”

“Intangibility, remember?”

She sighed, as she made a mental note to have the ghost shields up around her more delicate instruments, just in case.

“Why wouldn’t you be looking this information up, Ghost Boy?”

She no longer called him Ghost Boy with venom in her voice, but worry. She almost felt as if she was talking to her own son, the similarities between the two becoming glaringly obvious, as she looked him over.

“W-well, he keeps tabs on who looks up what about him, you know. The best way to learn about him is finding the original newspaper articles or-or magazines that he first started popping up in.”

As if on cue, she received a text from Masters that made her blood boil.

“Well, I gotta go, I’m meeting someone at the Nasty Burger soon! But be more careful out there, okay? I know you’ve got kids, so make sure you keep them safe.”

Something in her mind clicked, as she remembered her own son mentioning going to the Nasty Burger with Tucker and Sam today.

There was no way-he couldn’t be friends with the Ghost Boy-could he?

As her mind went wild, she waved at the boy as he soundlessly disappeared through the walls.

Moments later, she heard her own son knocking on the door to her lab, letting her know he was heading out to hang out with Tucker.

“What about Sam, sweetie?”

“Ah, her parents are making her go to some lame party instead of hanging out with us.”

Maddie shook her head. Even she knew that doing something like that would only succeed in pushing Sam further away.

It was 9 pm, and Danny still hadn’t come home. Maddie was beginning to get worried, what with Phantom being seen fighting a much larger ghost than average- very close to the Nasty Burger. She was pacing in the kitchen when she heard the front door slam, followed by Danny trudging up the stairs.

She thought for a moment about asking her son about Phantom, and soon went up the stairs after him.

“I can’t **believe** he thought that sending all of them would be a good idea! And then telling me to ‘come back home, and be Daddy’s perfect little girl’?!”

Maddie didn’t recognize the girl’s voice, so clearly it wasn’t Sam. Gently, she knocked on the door, and both children went quiet.

Danny cracked his door open a tiny bit, his face showing the fear he was trying to hide.

Her heart broke for her son. What was he afraid of? She caught a glimpse of a glowing white ponytail, and suddenly she knew the answer. She kicked herself mentally for always rambling on about how her and Jack wanted to tear ghosts apart “molecule by molecule”.

“Sweetie, I need to talk to you about something. Your friend can stay.”

The girl poked her head out from behind Danny’s shoulders, and Maddie knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this girl was Vlad Master’s child when she was alive.

“Um, what-what did you want to talk about, mom?”

“Some information regarding Vlad, your friend, and Phantom has come up…”


	3. Answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maddie swallowed her fears as she pondered how to begin this conversation. She quietly stepped inside, shutting the door behind her. She looked at the ghost girl, who still hid partially behind Danny. After all, Maddie was a ghost hunter.
> 
> “Danny, did you know that Vlad Masters used to have children?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes, y'all gave me the motivation to write some more lmao

Maddie swallowed her fears as she pondered how to begin this conversation. She quietly stepped inside, shutting the door behind her. She looked at the ghost girl, who still hid partially behind Danny. After all, Maddie was a ghost hunter.

“Danny, did you know that Vlad Masters used to have children?”

She watched the girl’s eyes widen, as Danny responded, his voice wavering.

“Y-yeah, I did.”

“And did you know that your friend here was one of them?”

He nodded, the girl still staying behind him.

“Sweetie, I’m not going to hurt her. Or Phantom. But I certainly want to hurt Vlad for what he’s done. Can you tell me what you know about the Phantom siblings?”

The girl finally stepped out from behind Danny, and Maddie had a clear look at her at last. She was much smaller than Phantom, which meant she was likely much younger than he had been when she died.

“Um, h-hi. My name is Danielle…um…”

“Danielle, I’ll tell her, okay?”

Maddie felt confused, concerned, and angry. This poor girl looked so sad.

“Mom, uh…Phantom…he was a clone of me. Vlad made him, from my DNA that he got from when I was younger. Phantom told me about his ‘father’ when I told him that we were going to be visiting him…”

Maddie’s mind was going everywhere at once. No wonder their equipment always targeted her son, he was friends with two young ghosts!

“At first, I didn’t want to believe him. But then…I saw Vlad’s lab. He…he did some bad things to me mom…”

The ghost girl was hugging Danny now, as he shook, remembering what had happened.

“But that’s not even the worst part. The reason he did those things to me…”

He looked at the girl.

“Was because of _me_. He wanted the perfect child.”

The ghost girl whispered quietly.

“I was a human who could use ghost powers. It didn’t take too long for him to create me, after he got more DNA from Danny.”

The girl was crying, and Maddie’s maternal instincts went into overdrive, as she gently held out her arms for the girl. She floated over, hesitantly at first, but soon, she was being held tenderly for the first time in her existence. She sobbed into Maddie’s shoulder.

“I wanted to help them any way I could, mom. So I would sneak them some of yours and dad’s inventions. But Vlad just never left them alone. He’s always after them, even now.”

The hollow look in her son’s eyes broke her heart in two. He had been trying so hard to help these poor children-clones of himself-that had died.

“My dad was more than just abusive…he was a monster.”

The girl whispered against Maddie’s shoulder. She tenderly stroked the shaking girl’s back.

“Mom, Phantom died because he fought against Vlad. It was a bad fight, one that still haunts him, even after death.”

Danielle began crying once again, as Danny recounted everything that Phantom had told him about his death.

“He never stopped trying to make ‘the perfect ghost boy son’. I’m…I’m a lot younger than I look, because I came along awhile after you guys visited the mansion…”

Maddie was filled with fury at Vlad Masters. He was no longer even human in her view. This girl, she was so young. She couldn’t have been older than maybe one year old! She was essentially a toddler, Maddie realized. This poor girl had lived a short life, and it had been full of pain and suffering. She couldn’t rest still, even after her death.

“Sweetheart, it’s okay. You can come to us, whenever you or your brother need anything, do you understand?”

The look that Danielle gave her made her wonder precisely what Vlad had done to her. As she held the girl close, she realized her children had just doubled. Maybe Vlad Masters had given these poor children horrible, horrible lives, but by God, she was going to give them the best _afterlives_ she could.

“Danny, Danielle, I think we need to have a family meeting. I’m going to talk to Jack and Jazz, and we’re going to figure something out, okay?”

“But what about my brother?”

“Why don’t you two go and get him?”

The two exchanged a glance, and nodded.

“Jack! Jazz!”

Jack came thundering upstairs from the basement, while Jazz looked up from her psychology book, only to see her distraught mother.

“We need to have a talk about Danny Phantom.”

Jazz’s heart dropped to the floor. She knew that Danny had been talking with their mother while he was a ghost, but what had he done now?

As Danny and Dani snuck into the ghost zone, they hatched a plan. A plan that would involve some favors from Clockwork….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bet y'all weren't expecting that twist :3


	4. A Helping Hand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Danny and Dani had left, they knew they needed a plan for how this was going to work. After all, Danny still had some issues with duplication, although he would only need one duplicate for their current plan. The two decided to pay a visit to Clockwork, and ask for his help.
> 
> “Of course you need help, children. Just look at the mess you’ve gotten yourselves into. But of course, I shall help you two. My suggestion is falsifying a handful of memories. Easily done, however, it will be difficult for the two of you to tell fiction from reality.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be delving into angst :3

When Danny and Dani had left, they knew they needed a plan for how this was going to work. After all, Danny still had some issues with duplication, although he would only need one duplicate for their current plan. The two decided to pay a visit to Clockwork, and ask for his help.

“Of course you need help, children. Just look at the mess you’ve gotten yourselves into. But of course, I shall help you two. My suggestion is falsifying a handful of memories. Easily done, however, it will be difficult for the two of you to tell fiction from reality.”

“Wait, Clockwork. What if you gave the false memories to a duplicate of me? I-I mean, theoretically, that should work, right?”

Clockwork and Dani looked at him, wondering at all of the reasons that was a spectacularly bad idea. And yet, it could work.

“With that plan, I hope you have at last mastered duplication.”

Danny avoided looking in Clockwork’s eyes, knowing that he would instantly be able to tell. Clockwork sighed, he had hoped he wouldn’t have to do this.

“There is…one way, that this could work for whatever your mother is planning. A semi-permanent duplicate, of course, this is not without risks, but then again, nothing you ever do is.”

The two agreed to this plan. They couldn’t think of any other way this could possibly end well.

When Jack and Jazz had listened to what Maddie had uncovered, they could scarcely believe what they were hearing.

“I have the evidence compiled in a folder, if that’s what it takes for the two of you to believe me. But I know what I’ve seen and read.”

Maddie’s voice trembled as she spoke, her anger and sadness at last making themselves known to her. She heard a soft gasp from Jazz, and a hesitant “hello” from her husband.

The Phantom siblings had returned, along with her Danny. They all looked as if they had seen the horrors of a war. Maddie held her arms open, and the two siblings, hesitantly at first, walked towards her. Soon, she held both of them close, as they silently wept.

Jack and Jazz knew that she had been telling them the truth. But Jazz was entirely confused at what had happened. When did this happen, she wondered?

“Jack, Jazz, this is Danielle and Danny Phantom. When they were alive, they were Vlad’s “children”. But they were also both clones of Danny.”

Suddenly everything was beginning to make sense again. Jack was still having trouble wrapping his mind around the man he once called his best friend being such a terrible person. But seeing his wife with these clearly hurting ghost children was proof of everything he had hoped would never prove to be true. He looked at his own son, who stood off to the side, as if he felt like he didn’t belong here. But soon, Jack realized that his son was very close with the Phantom siblings, as they left Maddie’s embrace, and stood behind him.

“We have to-to do _something_ about this! Maddie, he needs to pay for what he did.”

The Fenton family had just grown by two, as they all adopted the Phantom siblings into it. Soon, Danielle was helping Jazz make some cookies, while both Danny’s played video games together. Maddie and Jack had gone to the basement to discuss their plan of action.

“Okay, Dani, spill. I know about Danny also being Phantom. What the heck is going on?”

Dani bit her lip, as she wondered if she should tell her newly adopted big sister the truth or not.

“W-well, we just kinda went with what your mom found out, since, technically, she wasn’t too far off, so we worked with what we had.”

Jazz shook her head. She could tolerate one Danny, and another girl around the house was nice, but _two Danny’s_?

“Well, I guess it is a good cover. Eventually though, you guys are gonna have to tell the truth. I hope you know that.”

Dani nodded her head, as she floated crisscross above the counter.

“But, Clockwork is helping us too, you know, Jazz. That’s part of why we were able to pull this off so well.”

Jazz wasn’t all that well acquainted with Clockwork, but knew that he looked after her brother often. She had no reason to not trust him.

“This is all of the information I’ve gathered so far, Jack. The only thing that I’m still not sure about is why Phantom haunts Amity Park…Although I have to wonder…did Vlad plan on moving here at one point? Is that maybe why?”

She watched as her husband flipped through the files she had on each sibling, and the file she had on Vlad. His eyes widened when he saw a handful of records. He pointed out the copy of a deed to a large plot of property in Amity Park.

“Maddie, do you remember that one article awhile back, the one about that explosion?”

Her heart could scarcely take all of the information she had learned, just in the past few days alone. But now she knew the reason why Phantom ‘haunted’ Amity Park. He had died there, likely in or before that explosion. Now they all knew that Vlad Masters was a horrible person, but how could they prove it to a judge?

“Jack, how are we supposed to do this? How do we make him pay for everything that he did?”

“Danny, this is a spectacularly bad idea! Think about it, what if they find out that _you’re_ actually Phantom? What if you change back in front of them?”

Danny knew that Sam’s worries made plenty of sense, but he had to trust that their plan would work. After all, Clockwork was on their side this time around.

“Dude, this is even creepier than when you first started learning duplication.”

Tucker simply could not believe that his best friend had managed to somehow fuck up his secret identity even worse. After all, they had no way to know for sure if the Fenton family would still believe them, even after talking to Vlad.

Both Danny’s sighed. They knew how risky this plan was, but they also knew that this was going to be the easiest way to make people see how horrible Vlad really was.

Jazz was helping Dani try out a new hairstyle, when Maddie knocked on her bedroom door.

“Jazz, sweetie? We need to discuss our plans now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope y'all enjoyed the domestic aspect of this family ;)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maddie and Jack Fenton had laid out their plans for the children to see, their worry growing as the Phantom siblings pointed out where they knew traps were laid. Everyone stopped cold when Danielle spoke.
> 
> “He-he has hired ghost bounty hunters before, he might try it again…”
> 
> Phantom placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
> 
> “That was before this, Danielle. Remember?”
> 
> She nodded her head. It was true, the bounty hunter incident had come before her, but she felt it was still relevant information.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a whopping 1400 words y'all, and I still ain't finished. enjoy ~

Vlad Masters was pacing across his lab, his anger mounting. He had yet to find Danielle, and knew that she was a threat to him.

“Gah! Just how long does she think she can evade me?!”

The only answer he got was a meow from his cat. He sighed in frustration. Not only had Danny and Danielle destroyed all of his research for his perfect clones, they had destroyed his Amity Park mansion, before it had even been completed! He knew that he would have to start from scratch if he ever wanted to have his perfect son.

Maddie and Jack Fenton had laid out their plans for the children to see, their worry growing as the Phantom siblings pointed out where they knew traps were laid. Everyone stopped cold when Danielle spoke.

“He-he has hired ghost bounty hunters before, he might try it again…”

Phantom placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

“That was before this, Danielle. Remember?”

She nodded her head. It was true, the bounty hunter incident had come before her, but she felt it was still relevant information.

“A **bounty hunter**?!”

Maddie could not believe her ears. A bounty hunter, he had hired a _bounty hunter_ to find literal **children**. As she marked every place that had a trap, she had a sudden realization. Where was his lab?

“Now, you two, I know that you’ve mentioned him having a lab, but I’m not sure where it is, it’s not on the blueprints.”

“That’s because it’s underneath his basement…”

Danielle mentioned quietly. Maddie noted that talk of the lab made not just the Phantom siblings uncomfortable, but also her own son. She gritted her teeth, as she gently reminded the siblings.

“You two don’t have to come with us, you know that, right?”

They looked at her, aghast.

“Of course we do! We don’t want to let him hurt anyone else.”

Maddie bit her lip, as she remembered, these children were once alive, after all. And they knew Vlad’s mansion like the backs of their hands, it seemed, as the two worked together to draw a rough sketch of what the lab was like. Her heart sank as she watched each one map out two very small rooms, not much bigger than closets.

“These were our rooms, but he’s probably done something else with them now.”

Phantom said, his voice scarcely above a whisper. Maddie knew that Phantom was the oldest of the two, and he seemed to have had a much longer life than his sister had. She steeled herself against the anger in her heart, as she asked them both:

“Earlier, Jack and I found out that Vlad had property here, in Amity Park. Do either of you know about this?”

Phantom spoke first.

“That’s where I died. I-it was a horrible place to begin with, but the things he did there…”

Danielle wrapped her arms around his shoulders, as he trembled with the memories. Although Maddie could not see the memories that haunted the boy, she felt as if she could. For a few moments, she allowed her mind to wander. Had this boy watched the birth and death of other ‘failed’ clones? She hoped not, but the answer was obvious in his face.

“I-I was there for a little bit with d-dad, but only because he wanted his research on my brother…”

The three oldest at the table were beyond furious, as they realized that this girl, this literal child, had been forced to sift through the remains of her ‘failed’ siblings. Danielle looked at the floor, as her mind drifted back to the terrible things that had happened.

_“Danielle, are you **finished**_ _yet!?”_

_“I’m almost done, daddy!”_

_She was happy to be helping her father, but her joy quickly dissolved as she saw the same kind of glass tank he had said that she came from. Inside, she found a skeleton, hints of ectoplasm still lingering. She felt as if she were going to be sick. That skeleton was once a person. Even though she was young, she knew as much as any other 12 year old would know, or at least that’s what she thought. She looked at the plaque on the very top, and floated up to see the name: **Clone #84 STATUS: Failure**._

_She knew that her father had been struggling with clones, but she had no idea that there had been so many before her. She felt a tear slide down her cheek, as she thought back to the three other surviving clones. Each one was full of suffering, so she had always tried to comfort them. They were her brothers, after all. But before she could comprehend exactly what she was looking at, her father had arrived, roughly grabbing her, and taking her to their home._

A soft touch from Maddie brought Danielle back to the present. Maddie carefully picked up the ghost girl, and was surprised at how warm she was. She looked at the girl’s face, her motherly nature taking over. She brushed Danielle’s bangs out of her eyes, only to see a collection of scars on the right side of her face. As Maddie held the girl, she spoke of the plan to bring justice to the man who had killed these children.

Both Danny’s were all too eager to make Vlad pay for what he had done. Each one was pointing out the few weaknesses in Vlad’s security that they had found, as Jack and Maddie worried about how their son seemed to know weaknesses that not even Phantom knew. They were left wondering how many times Vlad had kidnapped their boy, without them ever finding out.

“I doubt that any of you knew, but Masters has a ghost portal in his basement as well, so if we really wanted to attempt a sneak attack, the way to do it would be going through the ghost zone, through his portal, and Danielle and I would turn everything intangible so we don’t hit the cover he installed on it.”

Jack and Maddie were speechless, they had no idea that Vlad had even still been interested in building a portal after the accident. But that was besides the point. Phantom had a solid plan for getting into the mansion, not all they had left to do was to prepare.

Maddie laid Danielle down in Jazz’s bed, as she slept, exhausted from the day. Phantom had gone down to the basement with Jack to ready the Spectre Speeder. Jazz and Maddie set to work preparing weapons and snacks, not knowing how long the trip through the ghost zone would take. Maddie’s fury was enough to keep her going late into the night. Jazz eventually persuaded her to rest for the rest of the night, knowing that they would all need their strength for the next day, and however long their assault of Masters would be.

Before Maddie went to rest, she checked on the Phantom siblings, who were curled around each other in Jazz’s bed, much like Danny and Jazz had done when they were younger. As Maddie was leaving, she heard Phantom whimper in his sleep. She turned on her heel, and walked back over to the ghosts. His face was twisted in agony.

_No, no, no! He had to get away from him, he had to! He was going to kill him! What did he do wrong this time?!_

_Around that corner, through the lab, into his room, hide under the bed._

_He hoped he could hide this time. He was so scared. Suddenly he could hear his older brothers, the ‘failed’ clones distracting father. He slid all the way up against the wall as the sounds of fight got closer, he squeezed his eyes shut, and waited for the door to slam open, and to be dragged out from under his bed, and back out into the lab. But it didn’t happen. His brothers had succeeded this time. He was safe. The smallest of his brothers, a tiny orb of ectoplasm, capable of flight came to comfort him, as he cried._

Maddie gently rubbed the boy’s shoulders, hoping she could grant him at least a small amount of comfort, even in his sleep. Suddenly he was awake, holding back a scream, as Maddie gently tried to calm him.

“Sh, shhh, it’s okay, sweetie. You’re safe, he can’t hurt you.”

She felt him relax into her arms, as he drifted back into a fitful sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be drawing some art for this soon btw, but if y'all wanna draw some fanart and have it be featured, https://alexandjadasblog.tumblr.com/ come and talk to Jada or I (Alex)! :3


	6. Of Names and Preparations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Danny, what about this seemed like a good idea to you?”
> 
> “I-I don’t know, Jazz, okay? Danielle needed somewhere to stay, and I had the option to keep my identity secret, but still tell mom and dad at least a little bit of the truth. Hunting Vlad down is just a bonus, honestly.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO I NEARLY DESTROYED BOTH MY LAPTOP AND TABLET TO FINISH THIS SO I HOPE YA LIKE IT

Danny had known that the memories would be traumatic, but he hadn’t realized just _how bad_ they would be, so when he and Jazz had seen their mother calming his ghostly duplicate, he knew it was bad.

He sighed tiredly, as Jazz looked on in genuine confusion.

“Danny, what about this seemed like a good idea to you?”

“I-I don’t know, Jazz, okay? Danielle needed somewhere to stay, and I had the option to keep my identity secret, but still tell mom and dad at least a little bit of the truth. Hunting Vlad down is just a bonus, honestly.”

Jazz pinched the bridge of her nose. She knew her brother had a knack for getting himself into sticky situations, but this? This was a disaster waiting to happen.

“Well, we’d better get some rest for tomorrow. Night, Jazz.”

“Goodnight, Danny.”

She had planned on sleeping on the couch to begin with, but looking at her mother with the Phantom siblings, she was surprised at how normal it felt. She decided to just roll with her little brother’s plans this time around.

Danielle woke up well-rested that morning, for the first time in a very long time. Stretching, she noticed that Phantom and Maddie were both huddled around her, and she felt a warmth she had never felt before. She also noticed that, thanks to Clockwork’s help, she was able to stay in her ghost form for as long as she pleased. She had to consciously make the decision to switch between being ghost and human.

“Good morning, Danielle, sweetie.”

Maddie carefully sat up, looking at the girl. She now had two daughters, she thought to herself. She noticed Phantom twitch in his sleep, as if having yet another nightmare. She gently stroked his head, noting how it seemed to relax him, just like her own son.

“Good morning, Mrs. Fenton.”

“Danielle, you don’t have to call me that. You can call me Maddie, or even mom, if you’d like.”

Maddie looked at the girl, who seemed to be weighing which option she preferred.

“M-mom?”

The word felt unfamiliar, and yet, it filled her with such happiness.

“Alright sweetie, now, what should we call you?”

Danielle floated directly above the bed, her legs crossed, as she thought.

“Well, I used to just go by Dani, with an i. But, that’s going to get confusing really fast…”

Maddie thought for a moment, before mentioning her idea.

“What about Elle?”

Danielle’s face was unreadable, as she tested out how the name would feel on her.

“Elle…I like that! Because it’s still part of my name, but now we won’t get all confused!”

As the two girls were talking about what to call each other, Phantom had woken up, delighted to see his sister and mother getting along so well. He sat up, yawning in the process.

“Good morning, sweetie. Did you sleep well?”

Phantom pondered his answer for a moment, before responding.

“I did, actually. I slept really well, it was nice.”

Danielle floated over to her brother, wrapping her arms around him.

“Hey, hey big bro, guess what!”

“What?”

“I’m gonna go by just ‘Elle’ now!”

“Elle, huh? Very pretty. Just like you!”

He bopped her on the nose as she giggled and blushed. She was far from used to being called pretty.

“Now, we just need to decide what to call you, Danny. After all, with two of you, it’s going to get rather confusing.”

Maddie explained, her question obvious, despite her attempt to not be overly obvious.

“Hm. Well, if my sister goes by Elle now, how about just Phantom?”

Maddie wondered why he wouldn’t prefer to use his full name, Daniel, or have it shortened to Dan, but the look on Elle’s face told her she dared not ask.

“Phantom it, is, then. Come on now, I don’t know if either of you actually eat, but I’m sure everyone else does.”

Maddie was surprised when she was met with twin pairs of happy, glowing eyes. Apparently they _did_ eat, after all. She gestured for the two to follow her down to the kitchen, as she quietly opened the door.

Jazz was still fast asleep on the couch, so the trio were as quiet as they could be. They knew that Jack was a heavy sleeper, and Jazz was in between heavy and light sleeping most nights, so they used this knowledge to quickly and quietly prepare a breakfast for everyone.

“After all, we shouldn’t be heading out to fight _anyone_ on an empty stomach, kids.”

Maddie gave each sibling an easy task to accomplish. Elle was to mix up batter for pancakes, while Phantom was preparing eggs. Maddie herself was slicing up some fresh fruits. She smiled softly to herself, as she reflected on her two newest children. She mourned the circumstances that brought them to her this way, but she knew that they were still very much _human_ , despite being ghosts. They each had their own distinct personalities, memories, and feelings.

“Morning, mom…”

Danny tiredly shuffled his way to the table, as the three struggled not to laugh. He had apparently slept a little _too_ well.

~One big happy breakfast later~

Maddie sighed deeply, as she packed a few more extra items. She was hoping that they wouldn’t be gone very long, but something in her heart said otherwise.

She was ready. She was wearing her newly improved hazmat suit, complete with extra equipment. The Phantom siblings had given her a pair of brand new goggles, that rivaled even her prototype goggles. She felt her husband’s hand on her shoulder, as she steeled herself. They were all about to face a child murderer head on, with the knowledge of what he’d done. Maddie gritted her teeth, as her mind went to the Phantom siblings, her anger rising once again.

Elle looked at herself in the mirror, on her left, there was Danny. To her right, Phantom. The three of them looked like family, and now, she realized, they truly were.

“You guys ready?”

She asked, her voice cracking. The older boys nodded at her, each one bracing for what the day may bring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also thank you for all the comments and kudos! If people hadn't been so interested in this, it likely only would have been 2 chapters ;w;


	7. Into the Ghost Zone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Well, I mean…Clockwork did mention that my powers might short out for a while. We can deal with this after we deal with Vlad.”
> 
> Phantom didn’t say anything to this, but he thought that it made sense. After all, he was only supposed to be a duplicate. But if he truly was just a duplicate, would he be starting to develop a personality that’s different from Danny Fenton, he wondered?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YES HI I AM CURRENTLY DYING BC IM SICK ENJOY MY FEVERISH RIGHTING

Danny, Phantom and Elle were all seated in the newest addition to the spectre speeder, a small area meant to mimic an R.V.’s interior-with the addition of equipment from Fentonworks, of course.

“Danny, this is super risky. How long did Clockwork say that this duplicate Phantom would last?”

“Uh, he didn’t…”

Danny hadn’t realized that they had no idea how long this duplicate was supposed to last. But, he supposed, they were bound to find out eventually.

The three were talking amongst themselves about strategies for fighting Vlad, when Maddie called them to the front.

“Yeah, mom?”

“Do any of you know where the entrance to Vlad’s portal is in the Ghost Zone?”

Danny looked at the two ghosts, each one avoiding his gaze. After all, he was technically the only one that had ever found it. He shuddered at the memory.

“I-I know where it is, mom.”

He took a deep breath, as he pulled out the map of the Ghost Zone he had been making. Unfolding it on the table, he pointed out their own ghost portal, versus where Vlad’s was. Maddie’s shock at how well her son knew the ghost zone was obvious in her expression, despite her attempt to hide it.

“You know how he’s such a huge Packers fan, right? Well, his portal entrance is hidden behind a ghostly football…”

Something seemed to click in Elle’s mind.

“Hey, I remember that…he always said that it was such a bad idea, but it was all he could come up with to hide the entrance.”

The three teenagers had more or less taken over the mission they were going on, as each one mentioned something else about the lab, or it’s defenses. Then Elle said something that surprised everyone, even Danny and Phantom.

“Well, if I remember right, he’s actually gonna be in a meeting when we get there. It’s Thursday, right?”

At the nod from Maddie, she continued.

“He was always busy with meetings and conferences on Thursdays, until around 7 at night. When he got home, he would head straight to the lab…”

No one said a word about where Elle drifted off. But now they knew that they should be safe by the time they arrived.

“Alright, Elle, sweetie. Thank you for that information. And you too, Danny. You three can go on back to whatever you were doing.”

Maddie looked as if she had been through hell, now that the three kids were back in the smaller compartment.

“It’s gonna be okay, Maddie. Those kids’ll get justice!”

“Oh, Jack. I know they will, I just wish we could have helped them before they were killed…”

She had done her best to keep the guilt she felt in check, but now that she knew just how horrible Vlad Masters was, she couldn’t believe that she had allowed him so close to her son. _Her_ son, who he tortured. _Her_ son, who he cloned many times. _Her_ son, who had been afraid to tell her about his ghostly clones, who he was such good friends with. She bit her lip, as Jack put one hand on her shoulder, the other still steering them in the right direction.

The children in the back had been playing a simple game, hoping to take their minds off of the inevitable battle that they were going to be facing soon. Suddenly, there was a loud thud, and all three lurched forward, Phantom and Elle grabbing Danny and going intangible through the doors, where they collided with Jack, Maddie and Jazz.

“Okay, what the heck just happened?!”

Everyone was surprised to hear Phantom’s voice taking on a more human sound, only to realize it was really just Danny and Phantom speaking in unison. The two boys walked towards the windshield, being cautious. Suddenly, a group of three ghosts were staring directly into their eyes.

“You have _got_ -“

“To be _kidding_.”

Elle was looking at the two boys, not understanding what was happening.

“Elle, want to help me take out the trash?”

The smirk on her face was all the answer that Phantom needed, as the two slipped out into the ghost zone, beating down the three ghosts. While the fight was happening, Danny was explaining who each ghost was.

“That one right there is Ember McLane, she died in a house fire decades ago, and she reeeeally doesn’t like us. That one, that Phantom is fighting right now, that’s Skulker. He died in a bad hunting accident like a hundred years ago. He also doesn’t like us. And _that_ one-“

“Let me guess, he doesn’t like you either?”

“ **Nope!** ”

Of course, Technus was trying to hack into their system. Why wouldn’t he? Danny took one look at what Technus was doing, and slipped into the back, putting on the newest hazmat suit that he had been given, and pulled the hood and goggles on.

“I don’t _think so,_ Techno-dork!”

Maddie and Jack watched in awe, as their son used the ghost’s own wires to swing him around, knocking him into the other two ghosts, as Elle and Phantom came up behind him, holding onto the wires as well. The three exchanged high-fives, as they sank back into the speeder.

“And who exactly was that one, Danny-boy?”

“ _That_ was Technus, he died in an electrical accident. He likes us even less than the others.”

Danny took the hood off, dropping the goggles to hang around his neck, when the Phantom siblings pointed at his face, concerned.

“Danny, your phase is covered in ectoplasm!”

He wiped his face with the back of his hand, he had Technus goo all over his face.

“ ** _Gross!_** It’s Technus goo!”

He exclaimed as he ran off to the small sink, desperate to rinse it off.

“Uhhh, we should probably go check on him.”

Phantom mentioned, as he and Elle floated to the back, only to be greeted by Danny scrubbing his face furiously.

“Dude, go intangible.”

Danny slapped his forehead.

“oh, _duh!”_

Danny tried to make his face go intangible, but was surprised when it didn’t work.

“Danny, you don’t think this is a side effect of Phantom, do you?”

Elle asked, as she made his face intangible for him.

“Well, I mean…Clockwork did mention that my powers might short out for a while. We can deal with this _after_ we deal with Vlad.”

Phantom didn’t say anything to this, but he thought that it made sense. After all, he was only supposed to be a duplicate. But if he truly was just a duplicate, would he be starting to develop a personality that’s different from Danny Fenton, he wondered?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> honestly idk if this chapter even made any sense lmao 
> 
> welp. guess I'll find out :)))


	8. Arrival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Good lord, young lady, this was your room?”
> 
> “Uh, y-yeah. It looks like he didn’t even do anything with it after-“
> 
> “Elle, you don’t have to tell him about that day right now, right Chief?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AT LAST ANOTHER CHAPTER PLEASE ENJOY

To say that Maddie Fenton was furious would be an understatement. There were no words to describe the fury that surged through her at this moment. Vlad Masters. The man she had once called her friend. She let her mind run wild with all of the signs. _She should have seen them. All of the secrets, the bitterness he barely kept hidden, his pure hatred of Jack…_ She could very well have let her mind wander even further, but she was dragged out of her thoughts, by Danny pointing out the secret entrance to Vlad’s Lab. She gritted her teeth, as she pulled her goggles on; she knew this was going to be a difficult fight to begin with.

“Mom, are you okay?”

Startled out of her thoughts, she responded to her son.

“Sweetie, I’m fine. I’m just furious at Vlad.”

Her son looked tired, as she took the time to really search her boy’s face for the first time in a very long time. She noted all of the tiny new scars he had, the dark circles around his eyes, and the smatterings of freckles. Her son. She could never forgive herself for allowing Vlad to be so close to him. She took a deep breath, and was surprised to feel a chill around her. Looking up, she saw Elle and Phantom, floating behind Danny. She smiled softly, as she realized she was now a mother of four children.

“Now then, are you three all ready?”

She looked at them, each one fully equipped with brand new gear that she, Jack, and even Jazz, had designed specifically for each one. Elle had a new jumpsuit, fitted with ecto blasters that wouldn’t harm the user. _Really, why would he feel the need to give this child a crop top!?_ She also had a pair of goggles, which were remarkably similar to Maddie’s own. Phantom’s jumpsuit was almost the same, but with a few major upgrades, each one to be a surprise to the boy. Danny wore his own jumpsuit, freshly cleaned from the Technus incident.

They all nodded, pulling their own goggles on. Vlad wasn’t going to stand a chance against them. Elle was especially excited to bring Vlad to justice, Maddie noticed.

Maddie looked at her phone, wondering if calling the police would be a good idea. She hesitated only a moment longer, before she placed the call, alerting the police that Vlad Masters was a child murderer and she had proof. She was taking a major risk, but she would do anything for her family. They were currently in Vlad’s lab, and she was noticing all of the instruments, but what caught her attention the most was that door that seemed to be tucked away, hidden from the rest of his lab.

She walked over to the door, carefully opening it, and she saw that it was a child’s room. She saw a single NASA poster, directly above what looked like a dissection table, almost. She gagged as she thought of what must have happened in this room. Phantom appeared by her side, gently pulling her away from what must have been his room when he was alive.

“Mom, trust me, you don’t want to go in there.”

Danny and Elle nodded in agreement. The three seemed to exactly what had happened in that room, and Maddie was not about to ask what. The group was startled by a loud clatter, coming from directly above them, Maddie quickly gathered the three children into her arms, and quietly made her way to that room. Vlad must be coming down soon, she mused.

“Alright, are you three ready? Gadgets all set? Now, I’ve called the police, letting them know that we have evidence to put him away for good, kids. Let’s go!”

As she whispered to them, she took note that they kept their mouths firmly shut, only nodding when necessary. They were ready to bring the fight to Vlad. Maddie was grateful that Jack and Jazz had offered to stay in the spectre speeder, not just for back up, but in case of an emergency extraction.

She kicked the door open, to see Vlad himself, who seemed to have been pacing back and forth.

“Maddie, my dear! W-what ever are you doing here?”

Vlad’s usual ego seemed to have been deflated, Maddie noted. She was positive he could see the anger on her face, as the Phantom siblings came out from behind her, closely followed by her own son.

“I know what you did to these children, Vlad. And I know what you did to **_my son_**.”

She watched as the once prideful man seemed to shrink under her fury. She walked over to him, and punched him in the jaw. The force alone was enough to knock the man down, and he seemed to be questioning the choices he had made that led to this moment in his life.

“I know that you _murdered these two **children,** Vlad Masters._ I know that you cloned my son, countless times, even going so far as to kidnap him to steal his DNA! What-what is wrong with you!?”

The Phantom siblings stayed behind Maddie, up until she finished speaking. Elle was the first to speak.

“Yeah, _Daddy_. Maybe you should have thought about the CONSEQUENCES of your actions, huh?! Just like you taught **me** to do?”

Phantom spoke next, before Vlad had a chance to even respond.

“Yeah, didn’t you think that we would someday be back to haunt you? I mean, after all, you so desperately wanted us to be the perfect ghost-human hybrids, that you’d feed us nothing but ectoplasm laced food. Or just straight up ectoplasm!”

Maddie herself knew of the dangers that ectoplasm held, just from touch, but to eat it? She felt sick to her stomach, as the doors were thrown open by a squad of police officers. The three kids hid behind Maddie, who was still glowering at Vlad.

“Now, Maddie, dear, are you really going to believe ghosts over me?”

Ignoring Vlad’s words, she instead spoke to the children, calming them.

“It’s okay, kids. The police are here to help. You don’t have to be afraid of them. And you most certainly don’t have to be afraid of your so-called father any longer.”

Elle and Phantom poked their heads out from behind Maddie’s shoulders, to the surprise of the officers who were now holding Vlad’s arms behind his back. The officer, who appeared to be the chief spoke, at last.

“Mrs. Fenton, I take it?”

She nodded.

“Show me the evidence you have, other than these two ghostly kids.”

Maddie took a deep breath, as she began to speak.

“Officer, these two children will likely be able to give you more information than I ever could.”

Maddie and the officer were startled when Danny cleared his throat.

“Um…mom? He kinda kidnapped me, so I think I can help too.”

She nodded her head, as she looked towards Vlad, who seemed to be realizing there was no one on his side this time. He stood now, humiliated, as the two officers cuffed him at last.

The chief followed the three children around the lab, each one pointing out a place that had been used to hurt them.

The girl seemed to be the youngest of the three, he noted, as she pulled him towards what she had said was her room when she was alive.

“Good lord, young lady, this was your room?”

“Uh, y-yeah. It looks like he didn’t even do anything with it after-“

“Elle, you don’t have to tell him about that day right now, right Chief?”

The ghost boy asked. The chief nodded, knowing they had enough evidence to put Vlad Masters away for a very long time. He looked at the ghostly siblings, each one looking remarkably like the young human boy that was with them.

“I just have one question for you kids: why do you all look so…alike?”

The two ghosts looked fearful of that question, he wondered why.

“Uh, chief? Remember how I said that h-he kidnapped me before? W-well…he kidnapped me because he wanted to use _my_ DNA to make clones, who he would then genetically modify to be ‘the perfect children’ he wanted…”

As confusing as the situation was to the chief, he knew that these children were telling him the truth. He couldn’t simply ignore the mounds of evidence he now had. He knew, in no uncertain terms, that Vlad Masters was going to jail. For a **very** long time.

Maddie was explaining to the officers what the situation had been like, how many terrible things Vlad Masters had done. And how she had learned of how the Phantom siblings had been killed by him. The first time Vlad had tried to open his mouth to defend himself, Maddie had slapped him, _how dare he try to defend his actions. How dare he try to say that he was in the right, after murdering two children!?_

Subdued, Vlad no longer tried to speak, for fear of being hurt far worse by Maddie. As the officers led Vlad out to their cars, Maddie held the three children close, as the cops stared in awe at the love of a mother.

Now that it had calmed down, Maddie called Jack, letting him know that he and Jazz can come and pick them up now. They were all ready to go home. Elle and Phantom seemed to be more at peace with themselves, now that Vlad was no longer free to hurt them or any others. Maddie smiled at the pile they had created in the middle of the spectre speeder, exhausted. She found a large blanket to spread over her children, because, before anything else, Madeline Fenton was a mother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, this isn't the end quite yet owo 
> 
> there are still a few...things I have left lol


	9. Explantion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Daniel, your duplicate has begun to develop his own personality…a rather odd, but not unexpected development. As for your powers, they will return slowly. At the moment, it seems that the false memories that I gave to Phantom were many things that Vlad Masters actually did to your other clones. From what you’ve told me, and what I’ve seen, it seems that all of the ‘failed’ clones are giving their ectoplasm-their life force, or what’s left of it-to Phantom. He is becoming a permanent person.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter of the year, y'all!!! 
> 
> I hope you like it, but I likely won't be on Ao3 for a few days, so see ya then!

When Danny returned to school the following Monday, he was hit with a thousand questions from everyone, even _Dash_. He hadn’t realized that everyone was staring at him as he walked through the halls, a new sibling on either side of him. He let his mind drift back to the weekend, and reflected on what he had learned.

_“Daniel, your duplicate has begun to develop his own personality…a rather odd, but not unexpected development. As for your powers, they will return slowly. At the moment, it seems that the false memories that I gave to Phantom were many things that Vlad Masters actually did to your other clones. From what you’ve told me, and what I’ve seen, it seems that all of the ‘failed’ clones are giving their ectoplasm-their life force, or what’s left of it-to Phantom. He is becoming a permanent person.”_

_Phantom and Danny could scarcely believe what Clockwork was telling them. They didn’t have time to respond before Danielle asked a question._

_“Clockwork, what does that mean for all of us? Mom-I mean Mrs. Fenton has basically adopted us…”_

_“Elle, my dear, everything is as it should be.”_

_It didn’t take the trio very long to leave. They wanted to return home now, after that knowledge, they needed time to accept what was happening._

_Elle was getting used to being around people who cared about her, when Jazz asked her a question._

_“Hey, Elle. Have you ever thought about trying to dye your hair?”_

_Elle shook her head, she had never had the means to do so, but had always wanted to._

_“Think we can dye my hair black? Even though I’m a ghost?”_

_Jazz nodded her head. She wanted to help her brand new little sister however she could, so the two girls went to Maddie, wondering if they could do such a thing._

_“Of course you can, girls! And Elle, dear, why don’t you also pick out some new clothes?”_

_“R-really?”_

_“Of course! After all, you’re family, and you deserve to be happy **and** comfortable.”_

_And so, Elle and Jazz set off to the store, Elle wearing her hair tied back in a braid, and hiding it under her hoodie and hat that she had borrowed from Jazz. Somehow, Phantom had joined them in their mission to find the perfect hair dye._

_When Danny woke up the next morning he stared in shock at the two black haired ghosts sitting at the kitchen table. He thought he was going to die-again, at the sight. But he was greeted by a cheerful “good morning!” from Maddie, and he cautiously sat at the table, reconsidering all of his life choices that had led to this moment._

“-nny? Danny!”

He barely had the time to turn around, as Sam and Tucker body slammed him to the ground.

“Geh-hello to you too, guys-oof!”

Sam had punched him square in the chest.

“We’ve been so worried! Why weren’t you answering our texts? What’s going on? Vlad’s in jail?”

“Yeah, man, what’s going on? And what’s with these two?”

Danny sighed deeply, as if he was getting ready to explain at least some of what had happened over the weekend. But instead, he-along with both ghosts-was dragged to the principal’s office, while the entire school watched in awed silence.

“Mr. Fenton, I’m aware of the fact that these two…ghosts…are your adopted siblings, and are preparing to enroll in classes, is that right?”

He nodded his head, as the two ghosts floated about the room, reading the many inspirational poster that Prinicpal Ishiyama kept in her office. With a long suffering sigh, she allowed the three to leave, instructing Danny to show his brother and sister around the school throughout the day.

“Hey! Fentonio!”

Danny grimaced, Elle and Phantom looking at the boy who had yelled at him quizzically.

“Saw you got on the news over the weekend, and if you think that’s gonna spare you from your scheduled Monday pounding, you’re dead wrong!”

Before Danny could respond, Elle and Phantom were between them, eyes glowing bright green. Danny could see the pure fear in Dash’s eyes clearly.

“Guys, no. No fighting. Especially not on your first day. But, Dash, meet my brother and sister: Danny Phantom, and Danielle Phantom.”

“Leave our brother alone, asshole.”

The words came out of Elle’s mouth before either of her brothers could stop her, and suddenly all three of them were in detention for the afternoon. Danny pinched the bridge of his nose. It was going to be a _very_ long day.

While Danny and Jazz dealt with any issues at school for the day, Maddie was dredging up every single piece of evidence she could that incriminated Vlad. While she was busy going through the old files that she had collected from his lab, Jack was on the phone with an old friend of theirs, a very well known lawyer.

She sighed as she shut her computer off. She needed to take a break from this. After all, the kids would be coming home a bit late, and she had some shopping that she had to get done. Sure, her newly adopted children may be ghosts, but she’d be damned if they weren’t going to have the best life-er, _after_ life-she could give them.

Both ghosts had dyed their hair back to their original black, with the help of Jazz. She walked out of her section of the lab, and saw Jack was on the phone, explaining the situation to their friend. She kissed him on the cheek as she walked upstairs. She had quite a few things to buy for her children, and clothes that fit and were comfortable were at the very top of her list. She walked out the door with a sigh.

Sam groaned as Tucker noisily ate his burger next to her.

“Do you really have to do that, Tucker?”

The two glanced up from their lunches when Danny, Elle and Phantom all walked over to their table.

“Okay, Danny, what the hell is really going on?”

Sam was never one to beat around the bush; if she wanted answers, she was going to get them. And she wanted answers for the unholy mob of curious people that had been following Danny, Elle and Phantom around all day.

“Uh, so…I can give you guys the bare bones now, but I’ll have to tell you the details later. Anyway-“

“Danny’s parents adopted me and Phantom, and now we’re working on keeping Masters locked up for a long time!”

Elle interrupted Danny, as he wordlessly nodded in agreement. Sam and Tucker wanted nothing more than to shake some sense into their best friend. There were so many reasons why this was a bad idea, ** _so many reasons why he shouldn’t have risked this_**.


	10. Phantom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After all, he was more ghost than human, so it shouldn’t have been possible for him even to do that. He looked at himself once more. He was never supposed to exist. And yet, here he was, proving that anything is possible. He was unexpected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end is near and I'm sad ;-;

Ever since Danny, Elle and Clockwork had brought him into existence, Phantom had known he would one day cease to be. But when they had visited Clockwork, after bringing their family home, he realized that he was learning more about the person he was becoming. He wasn’t Danny, no, he was Phantom. But still, he had to wonder, how had this happened? Clockwork had said something about some of the failed clones ‘giving him the remains of their ectoplasm’…

“Elle, have you ever wondered why the ‘failed’ clones would give their remaining ectoplasm to me?”

“No, I’ve never really thought about it. Maybe they knew you needed to exist more than they ever did. I mean, Clockwork even told me that you might have some of their memories, you know. I don’t have them because I’m…different.”

Phantom wasn’t sure what to do. He wanted to comfort the girl he now knew as his sister, but he didn’t know how. He thought for a moment.

“Elle, do you want to play some games?”

She nodded her head vigorously, as they headed downstairs, where they knew Danny had left some games for them to play. He could think about the troubling questions his existence brought later.

Maddie was wrapping some of her purchases from the beginning of the week, she wanted to give the Phantom siblings some presents, after all they had been through.

She had even managed to convince Jack to start building two new bedrooms for their newest family members. But they didn’t know about that just yet, no, she wanted to surprise them. Her heart ached for the ghost children she had so readily accepted into her home. Not a day had gone by that she hadn’t cried for them. She wanted to see Vlad suffer, just as he had made her children to suffer. She finished tying the bows on each box-one for Phantom, one for Elle. They were simple things, but she had been paying close attention to what each sibling was interested in. Their boxes were filled to the brim with the things that they loved. Phantom liked mystery novels, Elle adored anything to do with science, and they both liked NASA, just like Danny.

Maddie bit her lip, realizing just how similar they were to her son. They had settled into their daily lives at Casper High, now that the gossip had began to quiet. She was glad that all of the children could escape the house so often. She hoped that none of them ever realized that she spent much of that time in tears, organizing everything she would be needing for the trial that was coming up soon.

She wanted nothing more than for her whole family to be comfortable again. It was Saturday, Danny had gone out with Sam and Tucker, while the Phantom siblings opted to stay home, as they were still getting used to living among humans that didn’t hate them. Jazz had taken her rare free time to spend at a small café, with a few friends. A crash and a yell brought Maddie back to reality. Elle was screaming for Maddie’s help. She came running out to the living room, but nothing could’ve prepared ger for the sight that greeted her.

Phantom’s powers seemed to be out of his control, and he couldn’t handle it. For only a moment she wondered what could have triggered such a massive reaction from the ghost boy. She remembered him mentioning once or twice in passing, that he had electricity powers. How he never wanted to use them, the room she had seen that was once his. All of the pieces were coming together.

“Phantom, sweetheart, listen to me, you’re okay! You’re safe, I promise.”

The electric charge around him prevented her from even touching the boy, who was clearly no longer in control of his emotions. The events that had been leading up to this moment had been stressful for everyone involved, but Maddie never could have guessed what was about to happen.

He collapsed underneath the strain of his own powers, encircling him with a brilliant white light. Before Maddie could think, she was running towards him, paying no mind to the pain she felt from his electricity. That was her son, and he needed help.

“M-mom?”

His voice was quiet, scared, as if he wasn’t sure if what he was seeing was real. She brushed his hair out of his eyes, so she could place a gentle kiss on his forehead. She felt numb, as his powers slowly returned to normal.

“I’m-I’m s-sorry, mom.”

“Sweetie, you don’t have to apologize for this. I’m sure it wasn’t your fault.”

Her words were the last thing he heard before he drifted to sleep. 

When Phantom awoke, he was alone in his and Danny’s room. He struggled to make his body move, as he began to realize what had happened. He and Elle had been watching some TV show, when they saw Vlad on the news. Phantom saw Vlad’s face, and had the ghostly equivalent of a panic attack, something that Clockwork had warned him was likely to happen.

As he finally made it out of his bed, he glanced in the mirror. He froze at what he saw. Only one of his eyes was green. The other was blue. As he looked closer he noticed he also had new scars over his skin. They were much more noticeable than the other scars he had. These scars were proof that he was not Danny Fenton, he realized. He had an electricity core, while Danny had an ice core.

Is this what Clockwork had meant by him becoming his own person? He tried to change his form, wondering if it was possible. As he watched himself in the mirror, he realized he could partially change his form. After all, he was more ghost than human, so it shouldn’t have been possible for him even to do that. He looked at himself once more. He was never supposed to exist. And yet, here he was, proving that anything is possible. He was unexpected.

A knock on the door brought him back to the present, as Maddie called to him.

“Phantom, sweetie, how are you feeling?”

He grinned to himself, before stumbling over to the door.

“I’m feeling kinda sore, but otherwise okay, mom!”

“Y-your eyes…?”

He put a hand to the right side of his face.

“This is proof that I’m my own person now, mom.”

Maddie smiled softly at him, as he beamed back at her. Suddenly he noticed something. She wasn’t wearing her typical hazmat suit anymore. She wore a pair of jeans and a loose, light yellow shirt. But what caught his eyes were the bandages all over her arms.

“D-did I do that to you, mom?”

“Sweetie, these are not your fault. Elle told me about what happened. Everything is okay, I promise. But would you like to come help Elle and I make some dinner?”

He nodded, as the two walked downstairs. He knew he had a long way to go, but he was happy to not just be a ‘permanent duplicate’ of Danny Fenton. He was himself. And that was something he had fought to find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that being said, this chapter (and art!!!) took a bit of planning lmao


	11. We won?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The long awaited day of Vlad Master's trial 
> 
> {I couldn't figure out how to write the actual trial I'm so sorry}

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will only be one more chapter after this one, y'all.

Maddie looked over her papers one final time before walking out the door, to where her family was waiting for her. Today was the trial. Today, she planned on making sure Vlad Masters could never hurt her children again. She squared her shoulders, and walked to the van she had opted to rent for the occasion. After all, they had to travel to Wisconsin to be in the trial.

“M-mom?”

“Yes, Elle?”

“What if…what if they let him go?”

“Oh, sweetie, don’t worry about that. He won’t walk free after today.”

She hoped.

[court scene: The judge seemed to have been bribed at first, but as the evidence was stacking against Vlad, he realized just how fucked up the man was. He was given the maximum sentence; life in prison, for two counts of premeditated murder.] {I’ve nod fucking clue how to write court scenes I’m so sorry TvT}

The children were exhausted, collapsed in the back of the van. Maddie looked at the three youngest children, who had long given up on staying awake, while Jazz sat quietly, reading her books. Jack was driving silently, to the hotel.

Maddie was relieved that Vlad could no longer hurt her children. Only a month before, he had just been an annoying ‘friend’ from college. But now she knew the truth. Even when they had been invited to stay at his mansion, she never would have guessed that at that time, there was likely a scared child in his hidden laboratory.

As they pulled into the parking lot, Maddie lifted Elle and Phantom easily. She was painfully aware of how much this trial had taken out of her children. Not even Elle, the lightest sleeper of them all, stirred as they walked to their rooms. Once they arrived, they all split into their respective rooms. Maddie dropped Elle off in her and Jazz’s room, being sure to tuck her in tightly, with a kiss on her forehead.

Maddie and Jack went to Phantom and Danny’s room together, putting each boy in their own bed. Maddie made sure to give each of her boys a kiss on their foreheads.

Finally, Jack and Maddie arrived at their own room.

“Maddie, I can’t believe we never knew…”

“Jack…he-he hid everything so well. No one could have known.”

Maddie put a comforting hand on her husband’s shaking shoulder. Of course all of this would hit him hard. He had thought of Vlad as his best friend. And now that he knew he had murdered innocent children in cold blood, he was breaking down.

“Maddie, why-why would he ever do something like this? I don’t understand how he’s come to this-this _monster_!”

She took a deep breath before speaking.

“Jack, Danny and I have been keeping something about him from you. Remember when we went on that mother-son trip, awhile back?”

At his nod, she continued.

“Well, our plane crashed on the way there, and we found out that all of it, the invite, the trip, had been Vlad’s plan. We crash-landed on his property, where he proposed to me, countless times. He tried to get Danny on his side back then, too.”

She hated the look of defeat on her husband’s face. They both knew that everything was going to change for them, but they had had no idea exactly what they had uncovered during that trial.

When Elle woke up, the sun was only just rising. She stretched her arms, as she looked over at her sister. She had fallen asleep sitting in one of the chairs. Elle floated over to her, and carefully lifted her. She carried Jazz to her own bed, before she headed to take a shower. She felt as if a weight had been taken off her chest, now that her ‘father’ had been jailed.

Elle had been given a wide assortment of clothes from Maddie, but everyone could tell what her favorites were. On most people, her fashion choices would be incredibly flashy, but she managed to make them look good.

Her chosen look for today was a loose pale blue sweater, galactic leggings, and a pair of jean shorts. Maddie had offered to do her hair, which she had gladly accepted. She sighed contentedly, as Maddie brushed her hair. She felt safe, like she belonged. It was a feeling she’d never expected to experience in her short life.

“Dad? A-are you doing okay, after yesterday?”

Danny had noticed that Jack was certainly not his usual cheerful self when they had met for breakfast. He was worried about his father. After all, he had though Vlad was a different person than he was for so very long.

“I’ll be fine, Danny-boy. After all, I’m the one that should be asking you how _you_ feel after that? I’m…I’m proud of you for standing up to him, son.”

Jack patted his son on the head, as he left the room, saying something about looking for a small part that would help his latest invention.

Throughout everything, Phantom had been rather quiet, and that worried Danny. After all, he had originally been just a duplicate of him. He was about to ask Phantom something when the girls burst in, Elle in the center of the beaming trio.

“What do you guys think of your sister?”

Jazz asked the two who were beaming at Elle. She looked adorable. But more that that, she looked-happy. The two boys grinned at her, as she came running towards the, and before long they were all collapsed in a big group hug. 

Although they knew that Vlad Masters could no longer hurt them, the Phantom siblings-plus Danny and Jack-would need therapy. Nobody had been shocked at the diagnosis of the three who had suffered the most at Vlad’s hands.

Maddie’s mind was often filled with appointment times, good ideas for meals, and what times to pick up each of her children. Although much of her ghost hunting research had ended abruptly when she adopted the Phantom siblings, she still studied the ghost portal as well as their world whenever she had the chance to. But her family would always come first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Elle is too cute send help


	12. Happily Ever After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter, as the Phantom siblings move and grow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAHAHAHA LETS JUST PRETEND THAT I DIDN'T FORGET TO POST THIS LIKE A COUPLE WEEKS AGO

It’s been five years since Vlad Masters was sentenced to life in prison. Four years since he escaped. Three and a half years since he was revealed to be Vlad Plasmius. The Fenton family had grown, Jack and Maddie putting all of their research on hold as they assisted their newly adopted ghost children. Danny had told them how he also had ghost powers, and let them come up with how he had gotten them.

Maddie sighed as she looked at the photo album. Filled with pictures of her family. She smiled softly as she remembered the first family picture they had taken after the adoptions.

_“Mom! Can you please help me with my hair?”_

_Elle had been struggling to get her messy hair to behave, and had finally given up. Maddie chuckled as she looked at her daughter._

_“Of course I can, sweetie.”_

_Elle had wanted a fancy hairstyle for their very first family picture, since they were also going out for dinner afterwards._

_“Danny, quit it!”_

_“Dude, she’s trying to get ready. **Like you should be**.”_

_Maddie and Elle exchanged knowing smiles, as they watched Danny bothering Phantom and Jazz, who had quickly shown that they were more responsible than Danny and Elle. This was a day that everyone would remember for a very long time._

Danny looked at the envelopes in his hands. One for him, one for Elle, and one for Phantom. The trio had been attending the community college for the past two years, but had applied for good colleges, to get the jobs they wanted.

Danny wanted to be an astronaut, Elle wanted to be an astronomer, and Phantom wanted to become a psychologist.

Elle’s letter was from Yale university. Phantom’s was from Harvard. Danny’s was from Stanford University.

He looked at them nervously. Today they were going to find out if they had been accepted into their dream colleges. Sighing, he set them down, as he thought about what his future could hold. His phone buzzed, startling him out of his thoughts.

It was a message from Sam and Tucker. Confused, he wondered if they had made plans for the day and he had forgotten. They hadn’t made plans ahead of time, they just wanted to know if he wanted to go hang out at the Nasty Burger with them, just the three of them, before he found out if he’d be leaving for college. Of course he agreed.

Maddie headed down to the lab, cup of tea in her hand. It felt like she hadn’t stepped in the lab for years. She smiled, as she looked at her husband, hard at work on a request from the government. A prototype of a new ghost shield. Not wanting to disturb him, she went to her own portion of the lab. It was almost the same way it had been all those years ago, before she uncovered the gruesome truth about Vlad Masters.

She shook her head, hoping to forget the memory. After all, she had some work to do. The government had requested a newer ghost shield, rather than maintaining the original. Of course Maddie didn’t mind, it was one of her favorite things to do, designing new tech. She just wished that they would spend a little more time learning _how_ to maintain the new technology they bought from Fentonworks.

“Jack, dear, where’s the letter from the government? I know I left it in here!”

She stood in the doorway, hands on her hips, as she awaited an answer from her husband. The sheepish look on his face was more than enough to answer her question.

“W-well, Maddie, I just thought maybe I could help!”

“Jack, sweetie. They sent it to me because the shields are what I specialize in. You’ve always specialized in the weapons.”

She smiled at her husband, it had only been a week since his last request, and he was getting impatient for another. Ghost hunting had been their life, but they no longer hunted them. Instead, they chose to study them peacefully. Maddie had an idea.

“Jack, why don’t we go into the Ghost Zone for a live study of the smaller ghosts?”

He perked up at her words; and Maddie realized he was simply restless.

“After the kids head off to college, though. We’ll be finding out tonight, Jack!”

Jack’s shoulders slumped sadly, as he remembered that their three youngest children were at last heading off to college soon.

“Oh, I know. I’ll miss them too, Jack. But they’ll come and visit, just like Jazz.”

Her smile reassured him. And with that, they each went to work on their own projects, professional or otherwise.

Elle giggled as she watched Dash and Kwan try to find her. The three had quickly become fond of one another, once proper apologies were made. Hide and seek was one of their favorite games to play together, the only rule was that Elle couldn’t go intangible.

“Aw, come on, Ellie! Where could you’ve possibly hidden!?”

Dash was getting more and more frustrated, as Elle watched from above, amused. After all, they never said anything about her flying. Curious, she looked over at Kwan, at the exact same time he had decided to look up.

“ _Dammit, Elle!”_

She watched as the two boys looked up at her, indignation at the fact that she was floating six feet above their heads.

“What, nobody ever said I couldn’t fly.”

The two boys were beyond frustrated, but had to admit that she was right, much to their despair. Yet again, Elle had won their game. Which meant they had to treat her to a snack of her choice.

“Hey guys?”

They looked as she landed softly on the ground, refusing to meet their eyes.

“What’s up, Elle?”

“D-do you think we’ll still be friends, even if I go off to college?”

For only a moment, the boys couldn’t respond.

“Of course we will, Elle! Even when you and Jazz would go on those long ass missions in the Ghost Zone, we still found ways to keep in touch, remember?”

Dash’s voice was unusually soft, as he and Kwan walked towards her. Unshed tears shone in her eyes, as the boys wrapped her in a comforting hug. She sniffled against Kwan’s jacket, as the trio slowly began to accept that they were growing up, and thus, were splitting up for the time being.

Phantom hadn’t made as many friends as his other siblings, but he was content with Wes Weston. The two had been growing closer and closer, Phantom was beginning to feel something strange in his chest whenever they saw each other, and yet he wasn’t sure what that feeling was.

“Hey! Daniel! Did you get your letter yet?”

Phantom felt warmth blossom in his chest, as Wes used the name that he had struggled to call his own.

“Uh, yeah. We’re all gonna open them tonight before we have dinner.”

Wes pouted at Phantom’s response.

“Hey, you know I’ll text you as soon as I know, Wes.”

“Um-Daniel, I wanted to ask you about something…”

Before Phantom could respond, the ground shook beneath them. Knocking Wes into Phantom, and causing what they were sure had to be an absurd amount of chaos throughout the town.

“Wes. I-I gotta-“

“I know.”

Wes was looking down, as he spoke. He knew that Phantom had to help his siblings. He _knew_ that. He had hoped to spend the day with Phantom. One last time, before they split off to separate colleges.

“Go, they’re probably waiting for you.”

And with that, Wes watched as his best friend took off towards Fentonworks. He had been banned from helping with ghost fights after he had been kidnapped by Fright Night. He shuddered at the memory.

Phantom arrived at the same time as his siblings. The trio immediately set about finding the cause of the tremor that shook the town. They went down to the lab, where they expected Jack and Maddie to be, but were surprised at what they saw instead.

Skulker was kneeling just outside of the Ghost Portal. But it wasn’t just him, it was also almost every other ghost that the siblings had fought before.

“Ghost children, we’ve been told that you’ll be leaving this town soon. Seeing as how the three of you share the throne, we have decided to declare our allegiance to you. We will protect and defend this town in your stead.”

They had indeed formed a sort of alliance in the past five years, due to the anger at Vlad. But this? This was beyond unexpected. Danny was the first to speak.

“W-wait, that rumbling just now, was that you guys coming through the portal? A-and why the sudden change of heart?”

Skulker stood before the three, and unfamiliar softness in his face.

“That was indeed, us. Because of you three, the Ghost Zone is becoming more like how it was before Paraiah Dark destroyed it. Ghosts are able to have children again as well.”

The trio’s jaws dropped, as Ember spoke.

“I’m expecting a baby, you three. The first ghost baby in a millennia. Now that we know we can have children again, we want both worlds to be safe. But there are ghosts out there who resent us for this.”

Elle squealed as she floated over to hug Ember. She had known that it was possible, but something had been preventing ghosts from having their own families.

Danny rubbed his hand over his face as he attempted to comprehend everything he had just been told. Somehow ghosts can have children. Okay, sure, that makes sense in a weird way. But leaving Amity Park in the hands of several ghosts he had defeated in the past, multiple times?

“Okay, okay. So why now? Why are you only telling us this now? And you want us to believe you’ll defend Amity Park while we’re gone? I-I’m sorry, Skulker, but it just doesn’t make any sense!”

Danny was clearly at the end of his rope. Somehow or other, he was going to have to be comfortable with leaving Amity Park under the watchful eye of these ghosts, of which there were many.

“Danny. I wish to give my child a chance to peacefully live between worlds, as you and your siblings have done.”

It was the first time Skulker had ever called him by his name, and it sent chills down his spine.

“We’ll talk about it tonight, and we’ll come into the Ghost Zone when we’ve decided. We’ll meet you in the palace in two days.”

Phantom seemed to be the only one with a level head for this matter. He gestured to the portal, indicating that it was time for the ghost’s to leave. After they left, Danny had only one thing to say.

“ ** _What the FUCK was THAT_**?!”

As the trio talked about what the ghosts had told them, they reached their decision. They were going to trust the ghosts, but they would be reporting to Jack and Maddie.

The trio went upstairs to see Jazz holding their letters.

“Come on, you three! Let’s see what they say!”

All three had been accepted. As the family headed out to dinner, they realized just how lucky they all were, to be together, and loved.

_**Fin** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hhhh idk about this ending, but I hope y'all like it!

**Author's Note:**

> https://alexandjadasblog.tumblr.com/
> 
> Blog that I share with my good friend, Jada, but I'm on like all the time!


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